flyfisher

I have always been told it is the sign of an old fish. I've never seen it on a small one either

I think it is more that he hates that he isn't the average American and is projecting that hate to a store.

what a ridiculous propaganda filled statement......the average American is exactly what drives their business model. Guys like you don't drive their business. They tried to cater to your belief of what the "average American" was with a hunting/fishing specific store and they failed and shut the stores down. Interesting as well that a private enterprise doing what they want to do with their business equates to hating the 2nd amendment. What they did is the epitome of being an American and in a capitalist economy. They lost money on the deal too from what I read previously but we all know that doesn't matter to you or anyone who is on the propaganda belief train... No matter what you believe to be true or not, the one thing that drives 99.9% of anything is money when it comes to big business. And maybe if more people actually got out and went hiking and ate granola obesity wouldn't be so high in this country....

It isn't sad, it is the market dictating need. If a business is going to stay open it will do so by adjusting to the market need and not forcing the hand and then being shut down due to lack of business. I have been to Dick's sporting Goods in some places that have a large fishing department and others that are like you mentioned. Also, fishing gear has a very similar markup to the other items mentioned, especially with the purchasing power that a store of that size possesses. Honestly if it bothers you that much I would just go to a mom & pop tackle shop instead. They even tried to do a more outdoors based shop and it quickly folded. The competition in that market is much higher and easier to go online than in clothing or soft goods that people want to put their hands on before buying. I am not one to want to go into a store if at all it can be avoided and fishing is no exception. I'd rather order online and have it to my doorstep in a day or two than waste time in a store.

Being in a kayak I usually go with stockingfoot breathable waders. If I am bank fishing many times I will go with a softshell pant like the original post.

Yeah i looked the kayak up after posting and saw the weight and you are right on any cart working.

All good advice. Only think I will add is that Hobie has designed their scuppers to handle the stress of using a cart in the scuppers. I have heard too many horror stories about the boondox to use them myself, especially given the heavy boats that are out now. I have been using the wilderness cart now for a few years and it is great and pretty easy to load. I set it up next to the kayak on an angle and lift the nose and set it on the cart and I am good to go. As far as the rudder goes it seems like people with that set up use the rudder to steer and the motor purely for propulsion. I have seen mounts that allow the motor to not be in the way of the rudder.

look at the structure of their mouths and their teeth, combine that with how they strike and you will see why the pickerel are more likely to bite you off. I now when pickerel are active they seem to slash a bait and come back at them to finish the job. This is when a lot of the biteoffs I experience occur. Bowfin I have had bite me off probably once or twice.

absolutely. I use heavy bulky jigs with big trailers fished painstakingly slow and then slow down some more.

Sort of true depending on the PFD they are using. Most fishing type PFDs are not type I which will turn most people face up. Some inflatables will but they are not rated to do so. One thing that is 100% accurate though is that no life jacket also gives you no chance of being turned face up.

why wouldn't you want your life jacket to inflate if you were knocked out?

No straw man here so don't be all sensitive about your lack of ability to read the data and understand what I wrote. I was agreeing with you and your example of what might happen and lack of a safety course is also makes a higher probability of a mistake.

of course not and the data provided before also indicates lack of boater safety course is also a large factor in accidents. I'd be willing to bet as well that the possibility of surviving a boat accident like you mentioned is much greater if wearing a PFD as you are being ejected from the boat.

Interesting take given that 85% of deaths people were not wearing their PFD. I'd say wearing one gives you more than just a fighting chance.

Depends on who you ask or what study you read. I know many things I have read indicate the length of daylight is the biggest trigger while others swear by water temperature. I do know that the fall bite so to speak varies for me anywhere from late September through December some years.

Last I checked smallies don't know what fall is so they do their thing. Transition times are always strange as they are already a fish that can move a lot and fall is no different. I prefer fly fishing but in fall I go conventional and use search baits like cranks, chatterbaits, soft bodied swim baits etc.....gotta find them then look for similar areas as I cover as much water as possible. If I had a better grasp on wintering areas I could probably be more focused but I don't so I am forced to cover water and find them as best I can.

Sucks for the families for sure. It still amazes me how many people do not respect the power of water even if they have fished on it for a long time. No reason to not wear one anymore, especially given the comfort of inflatables. I have driven home with mine on before because I forgot to take it off.

Reading this thread highlights one large piece that people mostly don't consider. They are looking at it from the angle of an angler and not an ecosystem. Anytime a non-native is introduced it has an impact, how large is only speculation until they actually do it. Case in point here in Virginia was that Blue Catfish and Flatheads were introduced to the James river in the 70's to create another sportfish to target. It has become a world class fishery but the smallmouth fishing has decreased in that area. We also see it a ton with the snakehead that people complain about yet in all the studies I have seen, they have done a great service to help the bass population. Then I see a ton of people who say if you catch a bowfin or gar they are trash fish and should be killed and thrown on the shore because they are hurting the bass fishing yet they are native and been here since the time of the dinosaurs basically. Bottom line to me is I am not moving any fish to any body of water unless it was my own private one and nobody else should either. I'll leave that up to the experts and just go fishing for what is near me.

I think in theory it is possible but not likely. The state/ world record blue catfish they attempted to keep alive but it died. It's a lot of stress for a fish and they usually don't make it. If I caught a state record fish I would have zero issues keeping it and getting it officially weighed and it dying in the process. That fish has already had its genes all over the body of water it lives and is most likely on it's way out anyways.

the narrow bunks is all about the bottom of your kayak, I meant more the bow and stern overhang. I have no idea how much of my kayak comes off the side because it is sitting on 3" PVC runners. Not being able to open the tailgate would be annoying I would think but I learned from others to get the extender right off the jump. Just like rigging up your kayak, you'll figure out what you want. I have had a basket on mine, rod. carriers etc....now I am back to the basic carrier but I am gonna lower the supports as i got a 12' boat and the angle now is a lot steeper when loading and unloading.

Definitely a place I want to go fish one day...

exception to the rule lol I do know that whenever I was hiking to a climbing area in winter I did all I could to not sweat and there were more than one time I'd have a hat and gloves on and no shirt in like 10-20 degree weather.

I don't know but to me a river fish is completely different and deserves it's own category compared to a lake fish. I have yet to catch a smallie on a lake because I prefer rivers and I'd love to get a 5lber on a river.....been within a few ounces on multiple occasions. At least now I have a few places I should put on my bucket list to visit

layering cotton is ok as long as you don't get it wet lol I guess my years of climbing in the winter showed me just how sucky wet cotton is in cold weather but fishing rarely works up a sweat. I will say that the bulk alone irritates me when it comes to cotton.

It may just be the angle of the picture but that is a lot of kayak hanging off the back of the supports. I have seen boats stored with more than a third hanging develop stress cracks and bend where the end of the support is. I use PVC for my runners and only about 2' are not supported on either end. You may also want to invest in the tongue extender if they offer one as it will drastically improve the backing up and allow you to slide the kayak further up on any supports you may have. Those malone trailers are definitely nice and I thought hard about getting one when I got mine but there was only like one option and it wasn't what I wanted at the time.